Eighteen-year-old Ahlayah Bowens, a male resident of East Orange, New Jersey, was fatally shot on Hoffman Boulevard on June 20, 2021, at about 9:10 p.m. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead at 11:24 p.m. The shooting happened on Father’s Day.

Ahlayah was a student at Fresh Start Academy and had attended Cicely L. Tyson’s Elementary & Middle School of Performing and Fine Arts and East Orange Campus High. His obituary describes him as passionate about the arts and athletics: he played baseball with the South Ward Newark Eagles, football with the Orange Hurricanes and South Ward Bulldogs, and basketball for Hart Middle and Cicely L. Tyson’s teams.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force and the East Orange Police Department opened an investigation and appealed for public help. In the days after the shooting, no arrests or suspects were publicly identified and the investigation was described as active and ongoing.

If anyone knew Ahlayah or has information about what happened that night, please come forward to the authorities.